Mar. 1, 2018
06:57 am JST

Very sad that some treat others in this way. You’d have to be some kind of sociopath to be able to have pleasure from other people’s misery.

Women do need to stand up more for each other here like she says, although to say it’s now a time to believe all accusers, that is also very much a flawed way to proceed as well. I think the reaction to #me too in other places has shown that as well.

Mar. 1, 2018
06:58 am JST

What is sad is that many women themselves here don't understand the problem, and because they don't know anyone who has experienced rape, or even understand what defines a rape, they find it easier to blame the victim than take a look at themselves and how they are adversely affecting the situation through either their negative "victim bashing" comments or refusal to accept a new reality.

Mar. 1, 2018
07:06 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
07:14 am JST

"We need to create a society where we can speak up. Otherwise sexual harassment and other misconduct will persist forever."

Hmmm, how does one change a leopard’s spots? Japanese men’s immoral attitude towards women and teenage girls is deeply seated in Japanese history and culture. The advent of the internet only made it worse. Yes, some men are slowly changing, but he majority are not. Women are and always have been second class citizens in Japan. It’s less than 200 years ago that they allowed women to go to school. And, it’s less than 30 years ago that women were allowed into the police force.

Mar. 1, 2018
07:24 am JST

If she was unable to give consent or not then it's rape no matter what happened before that

This is one of a plethora of problems facing women who are sexually abused, and an even bigger problem is the police, medical facilities , prosecutors and general public as well.

One, there are not enough police trained to deal with victims of rape, Two, they don't commonly do rape kits at hospitals either (telling women to take a shower, clean-up, and they will somehow "feel better") . Three, prosecutors and cops too, when investigating, IF they investigate, ask insensitive and meaningless questions, to somehow protect the guy (or may girl) who committed the rape.

Also the public's image of "rape" is limited to what they see on TV or movies, and fail to realize that it is a serious problem here in Japan.

The victims are the problem, until they can prove otherwise and not the other way around. Saying "no" does not mean "no" way of thinking!

Mar. 1, 2018
07:33 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
07:49 am JST

I am starting a similar campaign for all the foreigners (and Japanese) who have been victimized by the Japanese police prosecutors judges who consistently fail to follow up, fail to implement due process, lie in reports, browbeat rape victims to not file charges, destroy evidence, are basically unaccountable and above the law. It's high time all of this injustice was exposed internationally. Blame them and shame them.

Mar. 1, 2018
07:52 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
07:54 am JST

@ Alex Einz

yes, maybe medieval but notice how society is super safe and advanced? or do you have better example of a safe achieving society ?California? Skid row? Silicon valley?

Until recently, there have been very few real child pornography laws on the Japanese statute books. Likewise, many, many cases of rape go unreported in Japan. So, there are just two examples of how your 'safe' Japan is probably not the country you think it is. I am afraid you may be a little naïve in this regard...

Regarding this particular topic, though, ask yourself this question. Where are all the Japanese feminists...?

Mar. 1, 2018
08:05 am JST

Conformist pressure in Japan discourages women from speaking out or saying "no" to many things, including unwanted sex,

Cruel beyond words

That mindset has silenced virtually all of Japan's so-called "comfort women," who were sexually abused as prostitutes for the wartime military, while Japan has shown little sympathy to victims from Korea and elsewhere,

Explains aloooot

Police required her to recount the ordeal repeatedly and to demonstrate it with a life-sized doll, she said.

How isn't this reported to the human rights commission?

Many online comments criticized her for speaking out, looking too seductive and ruining the life of a prominent figure.

Mar. 1, 2018
08:46 am JST

The #MeToo movement has not caught on in Japan

Good. Its a witch hunt.

In saying that women should not have to put up with sexual harassment and their complaints should be taken seriously and action taken according to law. That's why we have the law and not online and offline lynch mobs like they have now in the U.S.

Do not import this disastrous element of modern U.S and European culture to Japan.

Mar. 1, 2018
08:47 am JST

The #MeToo movement is doing a right thing. The online comments accusing this movement are probably based by biased male chauvinists ( not to say only in Japan). The lawsuits made by the victims need more professionals to have more proof /evidences, at least a lawyer and a private detective on the victim side.

Mar. 1, 2018
08:53 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
08:53 am JST

! They still refer to raped victims of war as comfort women. So for especially the older generation women are seen as just second class objects for their frustration. This mindset seems to have been passed down from generation to generation of men in Japan

Mar. 1, 2018
09:07 am JST

I can't understand why anyone would thumbs down the truth about this metoo thing.

Of course there is social issues that need to be addressed. But by thumbs downing the truth, that China is actually instigating a war and preparing for a global takeover, you are saying you prefer China to dictate the rules of social order.

Something big has happened in the last 3 years. China has bought up Hollywood, Silicon Valley is relocating to China, major real estate has all been bought up by the government of China all over the world, this month China will start buying oil in Yuan this month, etc.

LOL. Wow. Are you serious? You're more China paranoid than I am. Did not think that was possible lol.

The #metoo movement is a result of Hollywood excess and the extremely toxic culture that has existed in Hollywood since the golden age. Its that, combined with the modern day brand of feminism coming out of Western media and universities. A brand of feminism which seems inclined to label all males as potential sex predators and as you correctly state has the potential to be damaging to male-female relations imo. Even more damaging to female employment I would argue.

There is a nascent #metoo movement in China so I've read. There have been cases of male university lecturers being fired for sexual harassment recently which is entirely reasonable if true.

Mar. 1, 2018
09:16 am JST

Unfortunately, it's not just in Japan we need to worry about men's attitude to women, going by some of the comments here.

Varying from the offensive to the surreal.

Some men need to start seeing women as equal and not as lesser beings, someone to objectify. To stop sneering when they speak out. Just look at the behaviour of some male commentators when victims of Roy Moore spoke out.

It's sad that victims cannot speak out without being judged and criticised. In Japan, or elsewhere.

Mar. 1, 2018
09:16 am JST

One way that women in Japan traditionally control their men behind the scenes is to allow them to act selfishly, ie as big babies, letting the men drink and speak freely and philosophize and think that they are in control, when the reality is quite different.

A woman like Rika Shiiki above who takes a western approach to an age-old problem here, can be seen as a boat-rocker and threat not only to such self-centered men but also to the controlling women behind them. There are many other cultures around the world with similar underlying structures. Seen in this light, it takes a brave or foolish woman to have faith in the legal system and stand up and try to address the problem.

Perhaps a more underground and long-hand approach might have worked better.

Mar. 1, 2018
09:32 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
09:35 am JST

Know your place, woman... Is what Japan has to say to you. Where a public figure is found raping a woman tied to the bed, he confesses and the entire nations knows about it but he (cough Yuta Takahata!) never sees a day in jail. Just coz his mama appears on tv bowing and gomen. Money had a big play, though.

Or another woman is found having an affair with a married man and her entire career gets destroyed (at that moment) and him? Well, boys will be boys.

Mar. 1, 2018
09:40 am JST

A hard uphill battle for women here who want to expose the "hidden" rape scene here.

Shiori Ito's case is disturbing. Her story, supported by witness accounts and cctv on her "drugged like" conditions was essentially dismissed by relevant authorities. After much pushing over weeks a case was finally presented to prosecutors and an arrest warrant was issued for the accused Noriyuki Yamaguchi. Mysteriously as officers moved to arrest him at Narita (he was fleeing), a call from "Higher Up" told them to back off.

Why?

Well the call came from slimy Nakamura, chief of the National Police - a bureaucrat with no policing powers - who surprise, surprise happens to be a close buddy of no other than Abe of Abe Inc.

And who is Yamaguchi, the accused - well surprise, surprise he just happens to be a very close buddy of Abe and has written 2 flattering autobiographies about him.

Well - who'da guessed?

And where's the fury? Where's the voice? Where's the media? Where's the justice?

Mar. 1, 2018
09:41 am JST

@Bungle (And strangerland kind of beat me to respond)

Persuading someone to have sex with you while acting in bad faith may be morally questionable, but it isn't necessarily rape.

There is a big difference between persurading (Which if not freely agreed then really to persuade, would equate into pressuring) and forcing by use of employement of status power would be rape. Look at the Weinstein issue, he abused power to get women who would not have freely done things with him. He may have thought he was persuading them, but really he was if not directly physically forcing himself on them, he was using his power as the same physical force.

Mar. 1, 2018
09:42 am JST

Ha-chu wrote that her boss at Dentsu would call her at midnight and expect her to meet him in a bar. During work he would say things like "I don't normally go with flat-chested women, but I'll make an exception for you". He sounds like total scum.

Gender relations as a whole are completely screwed in Japan. I've said it before but I feel ambitious women are held by other women as well as by men. That nucleus of happy-to-be-kept women see them as a threat and are ambivalent to any barriers working women face. This means that women do not act as a unified group pushing for better treatment as in other countries. There is also the gender-unrelated problem of victims of bullying being seen as responsible for their fate. There are plenty of stories of this happening in schools. Add in the old-fashioned "abused women=damaged goods" attitude that lets chikan get away with so much and it's no wonder #metoo isn't getting much traction.

Mar. 1, 2018
09:48 am JST

Nope. To qualify as rape, there must be a) penetration with a penis, and b) a lack of consent

Obviously there are folks even here on this site that do not know what constitutes "rape" or "sexual assault",

unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of thevagina, anus, or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, other body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim.

Mar. 1, 2018
10:15 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
10:21 am JST

I thought #metoo was a good way to have women's voices heard, and to shine a light on the amount of harassment. I do think it began to go a little too far though, because those accused had very little right of reply.

Mar. 1, 2018
10:23 am JST

Know your place, woman... Is what Japan has to say to you. Where a public figure is found raping a woman tied to the bed, he confesses and the entire nations knows about it but he (cough Yuta Takahata!) never sees a day in jail. Just coz his mama appears on tv bowing and gomen. Money had a big play, though.

Yeah, that case looked a lot more like a scam pulled by the woman and an 'anti-societal' member, than it did a rape.

Mar. 1, 2018
10:31 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
10:40 am JST

I am actually shocked at some of the comments here, Rape being workplace or off the street is a disasterous thing to happen to anyone. The flippet attitude by the Legal (almost vomited calling it a Legal system) system is a green light for rapists. Gang rape a girl....sentence???. Rape a hotel worker, his MUM says sorry about that, no charge. It's no wonder that sex crimes are so prevalent when the victims are subjected to a series of degrading interviews designed not to help but make it so bad the charge is dropped. Medieval. Inquisition type legal process.

Mar. 1, 2018
10:59 am JST

Women, -- some ‘men' seem to need to realise -- are PEOPLE. Remember that. Treat them as such, not as objects, second class citizens who have no right to stand as equals. Teach boys that girls are not inferior, weaker, less able because IT IS NOT TRUE. Those on here who think otherwise, your time is up.

Mar. 1, 2018
11:01 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
11:03 am JST

Somewhere I have a photograph I took years ago of a sign in front of a shop in Center Gai in Shibuya near McDonald's. It was advertising products sold in the shop, which sold drug paraphernalia and what were legal highs at the time. Nearly all the sign was in Japanese, just one product was listed in English and it shocked me even though I am not easily shocked. As I cannot read Japanese, my eyes zoomed in on the English. The shop was selling and openly advertising a date-rape drug. That is why I was so shocked.

When I lived in Yokohama, I was warned by a friend, who was a counsellor, that there was a dangerous man living in the area, and that I should warn any ladies visiting my house. How did she know? One of her patients, a young girl, lived not far from me. She had been attacked on her way home, which is why she needed counselling. I was also told that her parents would not contact the police about the incident for fear of their daughter becoming "kizuna".

No, Tokyo is not the safest city in the world, at least not for women. Ask a woman you know if she would walk through say Hibiya Park alone after midnight. Actually, when I visited Shanghai a few years ago, two friends of mine living there, who had previously lived in Tokyo, said it was an extremely safe city, safer than Tokyo. One explained this by saying at 2 a.m. you often see girls walking in the street listening to headphone, and you will never see that in Tokyo because in Tokyo at that time of night girls are listening for footseps following them.

Mar. 1, 2018
11:07 am JST

Mar. 1, 2018
11:12 am JST

"Saying 'Me Too' in Japan carries risk of being criticized, ignored"

Remove "in Japan" from here and the statement still runs true. You outta see the levels of harassment that women who come forward must face all around the world. It's disturbing. Japan is no exception, but it's definitely not worse than in most other places...however even though I say this, that is still setting the bar REALLY low because it's a terrible problem around the world and humanity as a whole is failing to properly address the abhorrent backlash and harassment that many women who speak out face online.

MeToo in the West brings attention to abusive men in power but it sadly still leaves victims at risk of extreme forms of bullying and harassment and it shouldn't be this way. It's been an eye-opening movement but some people wait foaming at the mouth trying to discredit women who come forward. Just look at how disgusting people acted about the woman who told her story of how Aziz Ansari treated her...."why didn't she just leave?" "this doesn't count as #metoo because they didn't work together" "she wasn't forced into anything, why did she comply with his demands if she didn't want it?" And some people even accuse others who come forward of using #metoo of just looking for attention or social media followers. But it gets even more extreme, I know a few women in America who have been doxxed after coming forward, I'm talking full personal info and family info shared online amongst internet trolls, some people went as far as to call their workplaces or clients to try to make them lose their jobs/work.

Mar. 1, 2018
11:24 am JST

Just look at how disgusting people acted about the woman who told her story of how Aziz Ansari treated her

Let’s look at it indeed. Although I am no fan of Ansari, who is just another liberal virtue-signaller, the woman in question wrote a blog about an evening they had together.

They had, by her own admission, consensual sex where he offered to stop if she was uncomfortable. She raised no objection and they proceeded. Next day she writes in her blog that she “wished” she had been more resistant and “felt” that at times he seemed “aggressive”.

Despite giving him every sign possible that sex was ok, she still blogged about regret. And then tried to destroy his career by making it public.

Mar. 1, 2018
12:02 pm JST

Mar. 1, 2018
12:04 pm JST

The ignorance about how Japanese society views, processes and deals with rape as a crime is astounding by some posters, especially those who regularly enthuse as to how long they have lived here, and how much ‘insight’ they supposedly have. KY doesn’t even come into it. This article -- linked below -- is a really good starting point as to how, for one, rape -- until only very recently -- could only be prosecuted when the police received a complaint from a victim.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/does-japan-ever-convict-men-for-rape

These women are those nails sticking out with a whole society ready to hammer them down -- as usual -- I wish them strength, endurance and success. NO MORE RAPE.

Mar. 1, 2018
12:10 pm JST

Cleo: "Comparison of rape rates in different countries:"

The comparison is not really a valid statistic to go by. Remember, the whole point of the article is that it's a risky business to pursue charges or even claim sexual assault when it occurs in Japan because police will bend over backwards in many cases to ignore it, even discrediting the woman based on past sexual history, etc.

So, the cases of rape you cite are only REPORTED cases, and I reckon the number of unreported cases in Japan supercedes those of the other countries you mention (maybe not Leichtenstein) by 10-fold at least. I wish it were not the case, and I think it's something that defintiely needs improvement, but we are talking about a nation where chikan can actively online brag about how yearly center tests and exams are coming up as the perfect date to "grope girls on trains" because society won't allow them to be late for the test or they'll automatically forfeit, so they cannot report it.

Mar. 1, 2018
12:30 pm JST

Mar. 1, 2018
12:36 pm JST

Japan is no exception, but it's definitely not worse than in most other places...

Maybe not worse... but at the very least different. And probably more accepted as "shoganai." I've had Japanese female friends joke that a #metoo movement here would have catastrophic impact on their economy.

Just look at how disgusting people acted about the woman who told her story of how Aziz Ansari treated her...."why didn't she just leave?" "this doesn't count as #metoo because they didn't work together" "she wasn't forced into anything, why did she comply with his demands if she didn't want it?"

Coming from someone that fully supports #metoo, those are all valid questions. The whole point of the movement is empowerment, and that means clearly communicating what you want or don't want. Blaming a guy for not reading your mind and potentially ruining his career is going to garner backlash, and rightfully so in my opinion. Calling people who ask valid questions "disgusting" doesn't help the cause either. We need to be able to speak honestly and judge different cases by their specific context.

Jan 21, 2018 - I have seen the police working up a rape case trying desperately hard to build it up so it will stand up in court — and wasting their time. “The burden of proof is too high and that's because the tariff is too onerous. Rape is a daily crime, it's not spectacular. What we need is a coherent law of sexual assault.”.

*Jan 21, 2018 - I have seen the police working up a rape case trying desperately hard to build it up so it will stand up in court — and wasting their time. “The burden of proof is too high and that's because the tariff is too onerous. Rape is a daily crime, it's not spectacular. What we need is a coherent law of sexual assault.”.*

It’s like someone chewed, them swallowed 4 different newspaper articles....

Mar. 1, 2018
02:07 pm JST

Agree that Japan is far too backward to do anything about widespread sexual assault and rape. If Japan were more like the West, sexual crimes and rape would almost disappear, but this will never happen here due to being too backward.. SMH

Mar. 1, 2018
02:17 pm JST

My wife is fully aware of my opinion. She just thinks women deserve respect but that they also need to use the rational side of their brain a bit more. She is quite traditional in her views of male/female relationships I guess. She does not hail from a Western country so she does not really understand the focus on this issue.

Women, -- some ‘men' seem to need to realise -- are PEOPLE. Remember that. Treat them as such, not as objects, second class citizens who have no right to stand as equals. Teach boys that girls are not inferior, weaker, less able because IT IS NOT TRUE. Those on here who think otherwise, your time is up.

Where did I say women should be disrespected? I said men that rape or sexually harass should go through the legal process and if guilty face the full extent of punishment under the law. That's what we do in countries that "maintain the rule of law". We do not do witch hunts, online character assassinations and alike.

Mar. 1, 2018
02:58 pm JST

By the way, #metoo is about sexual harassment as well as various forms of sexual assault including rape.

So it is wrong to focus on rape or on the precision definition of rape as in many of the comments above. Rape is already a criminal act that is handled with considerable importance in the countries where #metoo evolved. #metoo is intended to highlight how widespread sexual harassment is. It is not limited to women who've been raped.

Mar. 1, 2018
04:41 pm JST

I remember that a friend of ours was almost raped in the park when we lived in Japan. She managed to escape and run away. She is half Japanese and grew up in the States and was living with her Japanese grandmother. She went to the police station and tried to report it. The police told her how she would bring trouble for her grandmother if she filed a report and persuaded her not to. Who knows if anyone lifted a finger to catch the guy abd what he went on to do. A Japanese friend of a friend also apparently dropped out of university because a guy touched her on the train every day. Even if she changed the time of the train he was still there. She never reported this or spoke up in the train. What I'm trying to say is that there is a strong culture of not reporting sexual crimes in Japan.

Mar. 1, 2018
04:56 pm JST

This women needs to learn how to conduct herself in a more business-like fashion. She should have walked away from any business deal that had a hint of sexual impropriety. I gather she was doing business with small companies; I worked for a Japanese electronics company for 30 years and they had incredibly strict rules when it came to negotiating contracts or business with outside vendors.

Mar. 1, 2018
05:12 pm JST

I reckon the number of unreported cases in Japan supercedes those of the other countries you mention (maybe not Leichtenstein) by 10-fold at least.

Why? Because you read about a few rapes that were not reported to the police and assumed that meant every Japanese man was out to get as much as he could, by fair means or foul, and every Japanese female is a victim?

We see it here on JT every day; any mention of 'Japan the safety country' inevitably brings up posts pointing to a single violent act/murder, telling us It's All Over The News! Arggh, That Proves It, Japan Isn't Safe!

Are you seriously suggesting that 1324 out of every 100,000 Japanese women (tenfold on South Africa) have been raped? On what basis? You know a couple of pervert? You read about some rapists getting off scot free?

Sweden has the 6th worst rate of rape.

SWEDEN!

now why would that be!?

Interesting point. It seems that in Sweden, each act of sexual violence is counted as a separate incidence. So for example, if someone says they were raped by a partner every day for a fortnight, officers will record 14 potential crimes. In other countries the claim could be logged as a single incident.

Mar. 1, 2018
06:18 pm JST

Lest you conclude hastily that "Japan is backward," let me explain that as of the 1970s, the USA treatment of women who reported rape (by police or hospitals) was reported to us as equally bad. I do not have up-to-date info on whether that has improved. Remember that even salaries for females in the USA remain less on average than men's. I am not sure it is better there.

Mar. 1, 2018
07:53 pm JST

Unlike you cleo I read something that another poster linked and learnt something:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/does-japan-ever-convict-men-for-rape

According to Ministry of Justice (There’s an oxymoron) studies, only 18.5 percent of sexual assaults were reported in a recorded five year period and THEN there’s the patriarchal depths to navigate. Stop defending, rationalising, the indefensible.

Mar. 3, 2018
11:49 am JST

Women often talk about their experiences of sexual assault with their girlfriends. Over the years I have heard many horrific stories that took place in Tokyo, and I have had several bad experiences of my own. I have been yelled at, followed, stared at, groped, grabbed, rubbed on, had my skirt pulled up, masturbated at, had pictures taken down my shirt and up my skirt, and more than once men on the train have gotten close in order to whisper lewdly in my ear. Wow, that list is long. Writing it out like that really demonstrates exactly what it is like to live as a woman in Japan.

And before anyone asks, yes - I have been to the police on several occasions, both by myself and accompanying a friend who was assaulted. The first time I reported an assault was when a man in Kabukicho who was handing out fliers, offered my friend and I a flier and then groped us. Another time I went to the police when I was being stalked though emails and phone calls by an ex.

In the first case, the police just told us to go home, because "Kabukicho is dangerous and you girls shouldn't be out so late at night." We were over 30, and it was around 10pm. He wouldn't take a report, come with us to where the guy had been passing out fliers, and acted in a very paternalistic and condescending manner. The second time I went to the police was even worse, because the officer refused to believe me. He got angry, and actually threw his pen on the table and declared "shinjirarenai!". I had a Japanese guy friend with me, and he was utterly shocked at how the police treated me.

Since then I haven't seen any point in reporting all the little harassments that are so common, because what would the point be? The police won't take a report because then they'd have to investigate; and they don't want to do that because they know the is only a very slim chance of getting an arrest. They just don't see those things as important enough to pursue, and they don't want their crime stats going up.

Personally, I think the police really just don't care very much because they don't see those assaults as being all that harmful. But when you are subjected to such treatment on a semi-regular basis for 24 years, it effects you very deeply. That's why I get so angry reading the comments from men who try to downplay this problem or who insist that it's not all men. Of course it's not all men - this is something women are completely aware of, and we don't need to be told that. However, when you are out alone at 10pm and a man is walking behind you, you have no idea of what he might do. And if your past experience tells you that you could be in danger, you are not going to ignore that instinct.

Men should walk with care when making comments on sexual assault. Unless you yourself have been assulted (as many men have) then you can't possibly understand fully the way it effects you; therefore, your comments on what women could do better, how women should behave after, criticisim about not reporting assault to the police, and victim blaming are NOT WELCOME. Not only that, you are also outing yourself as a man that women should probably avoid being alone with. Because if you can't muster sympathy and understanding for women who have been sexually assaulted, then we know you are likely to be a person capable of such assaults.